The familiarity of racing against the same people every weekend all summer long is obviously breeding contempt. Breeding like bunnies, I tell ya.
While Uncle Sam and Nariz were swapping paint and pleasantries, Danica Patrick was stomping around in a fit and taking issue with the driving of Mr Tomas Scheckter. From the Ithica Journal
“He blocked me earlier in the race, and after I finally got by him, he let other people pass him,” Patrick told crew chief Dave Popielarz, emphatically. “For four straight laps, he blocked me.”I can see the comments section filling up with the word “Princess” already. To be fair, I’m sure she wasn’t the only one who was upset at how her race went. In Danica!’s defense she gets interview requests every waking minute of her day. Sometimes they’re gonna catch here in GoDaddy girl mode, some times in GoAway girl mode.
Patrick said that because of Scheckter's shielding, she lost precious time two-thirds into the race. It left her in no mood to chat. Moments later, she bolted for her transport, but an IndyCar Series TV crew coerced her into discussing her day, even briefly.
Patrick, who narrowly missed her seventh top-10 finish of 2007, motioned them away.
“Why do you want to talk to me?” she asked, disgusted. She eventually acquiesced.
I can totally understand wanting to be left alone after a race. We're pretty spoiled, I think, to expect interviews right after a long and tiring race when emotions are high.
However, have you noticed a pattern here? How many races do we hear Dancia claim that someone was blocking her?
According to Danica, it is always someone else's fault that she has not performed up to expectations - it's her crew's fault for not setting up the car just right, or a fellow driver's fault for blocking her, etc. But part of being a successful racer is not just knowing how to drive, but also knowing how to handle adversity on the track and still come out on top. I'm sure that every race winner this season has had to deal with someone blocking them at some point during the race that they ultimately won, and that some of the race winners were driving with less-than-perfect setups. I don't doubt that Danica is feeling genuinely frustrated, but because we're hearing the same collection of excuses at the end of almost every race, it appears to me that she needs to focus more of her energy on learning how to adapt to difficult (and yet typical) circumstances on the track.
I am starting to become a big fan of Buddy. If it makes Danica feel any better, she has led three laps this season. The reason she left RLR was to be in a more competitive car. Buddy, on the other hand, has led 43 laps this season with a historically less competitive team. Buddy has 2 top five finishes and 7 top ten finishes. Danica has 1 top five finish and 6 top ten finishes. Danica needs to relax and take advantage of the opportunity. Her ex-teammate is out their scraping for everything he can. He does not have the luxury of a world-class racing family backing him up.
Whoever posted that last post, great comparison. Is there even a such thing as blocking on a road course? Or is Scheckter just supposed to pull over for the princess to pass...
We know at least one member of AGR races like a true gentleman, because his wife pointed it out to us. The rest of the team, however, seems to be reading pages from their boss/dad's playbook. If Danica wants to keep making excuses I'd say she's driving for the right team.
I want to see her get a win. I hope she gets one this weekend while I'm there to see it in person. But I'm over the attitude. I understand there is a sizeable weight pushing down on her. But there is something to be said for grace under pressure.
haha. oh man. Schekter this week... Whose fault was it after qualifying when she refused to talk to the IMS radio people? And more to the point whose fault was it that she was downshifting and back on the gas at a later point than every other driver coming out of Das Boot at the Glen?
okay, I admit it was my fault for standing there and watching...like the "you will.....failllllllll" guy on Curb Your Enthusiasm.